The 2024 BNM Summit is in the books, and fortunately, everything turned out great. Our lineup was strong, and eighteen amazing partners pledged their support to the show. The Jack Morton Auditorium looked outstanding, and everyone I talked to said they gained value from the conference. The After Party presented by Collette at Circa was also excellent. It was awesome seeing Marsha Landess of Radio One win the trip to Spain. My only regret was not having more time for conversations with everyone. That’s the downside of hosting, producing, and overseeing the show.
I said last week that IF we did a show in 2025, it’d take place in New York City, Philadelphia, Dallas or Los Angeles. Voting is open on BNMSummit.com. I use the word ‘if’ because I go into each show knowing it could be the last. If sponsors don’t support us or if people don’t show up, then it’s a sign to do something else.
We invest eight months creating two valuable days for attendees. I believe it’s important to examine key issues with accomplished people, highlight difference makers, identify areas of weakness and offer solutions, and unite radio, digital, and television talent, executives, sellers, and behind the scenes professionals. Having had a few days to process what took place, here are my key takeaways from this year’s show.
Talent: Clay Travis, Brian Kilmeade, Todd Starnes, Jeff Katz, Tony Katz, Chris Plante, and Steven Portnoy were simply fantastic. Each brought different things to the stage, and showcased why they are exceptional. Plante and Portnoy had excellent chemistry, and a compelling discussion that included some disagreement. I especially enjoyed Chris’s perspective on a neutral news network and if it could work. His response on whether or not the media is hard enough on Donald Trump was also superb.
Starnes, Katz, and Katz (I should’ve named them ‘The Law Firm’) were awesome with Mike McVay. They provided tons of insight on using local events and social media to stay relevant, and grow revenue and relationships. Todd’s points on hiring Gen-Z employees to add differing perspectives in the workplace were also smart. Their points on show prep, and management standing behind their people also were valuable.
Clay Travis and I always have great conversations about the business. There’s mutual respect, and chemistry when we connect to discuss issues. We examined Google and Facebook’s censorship issues with Clay advocating for Google to be broken up. Travis says the tech giant should be forced to spin-off YouTube as part of its anti-trust practices. He also addressed dealing with death threats, the pros and cons of owning your own advertising, how he measures the effectiveness of content in audio, video and written form, the growth of Clay & Buck, and more. When Clay speaks, you learn something. Meet him afterwards, and you’ll find he’s great to interact with too. I’m appreciative that he takes the time to fly to town to join us at the show.
Brian Kilmeade was another guest I really enjoyed talking to. We explored his daily prep process, interview strategy (listen to his Donald Trump interview – short, succinct questions, timely follow ups, control of the conversation), building a national show without owning stations, and what he does to retain trust from affiliates. Brian calls into his affiliate stations, travels to select markets, and has even offered to talk to potential local advertisers. That’s what being a partner is all about. At one point he complimented the prep work put into the session. That was gratifying because I spend hours digging for audio, video, and creating images to support conversations I have with my guests. Keeping an audience interested requires doing the homework. I’m glad he took notice.
Research: Daniel Anstandig of Futuri was simply outstanding. His examples of what is/isn’t AI had everyone recognizing that the quality of content had no slippage when it isn’t human. Nobody who watched his session didn’t learn something about artificial intelligence. The same was true of Gordon Borrell’s reality check on the advertising climate. Professionals in the room were nervous about the AI and advertising realities, but these things are real. It’s on all of us to learn and adjust. Larry Rosin and Laura Ivey also delivered fantastic data on listener habits, information that programmers always appreciate. Jim Cutler was great as well, showing through video and audio creativity how to use imaging/content in better, smarter ways.
Programmers: Seventeen programming executives spoke at the show. Thirteen others were in the room as attendees. I was very happy about that. That doesn’t happen at other shows. Every news/talk program director and executive should be at this show. It covers everything that matters to your business. Swinging An Election with Greg Stocker, Mike Spaulding, Ken Charles, Martha Maurer, and Pete Mundo was very compelling. The same was true of The Network Advantage with Liz Alesse of ABC News Radio, Kevin DeLany of Westwood One, John Sylvester of Fox News Audio, former CBS News Radio GM and current WYPR GM Craig Swagler, and Lee Harris of NewsNation. Their back and forth on AI and what is/isn’t ethically acceptable was especially riveting.
Julia Ziegler, Chris Berry, Drew Anderssen, and Steve Moore joined The Programming Party session and shared a lot of expertise on events, reducing inventory, election fatigue, reaching younger audiences, and more. All four brought excellent opinions and insight to the stage. I also enjoyed putting Jeff Wade, Mike Schaefer, and David Wood On The Spot with special appearances by Erick Erickson, Dave Tepper, and JJ Surma. When the on-demand videos come out, I encourage folks to go back and re-watch each programming conversation. There were many valuable takeaways.
Market Managers: We had more market manager involvement this year, which was excellent. Joel Oxley, Chris Oliviero, and Jaleigh Long were tremendous. From covering the decision to move on from WCBS to exploring the challenge of selling podcasts on a local level, and improving diversity in management, I thought Joel, Chris, and Jaleigh offered a lot of smart takeaways. The conversation led by Dave Greene with Michael Spacciapolli, Marsha Landess, and Tim Wenger was also valuable. What I enjoyed about both sessions is that the room heard from leaders in large and mid-sized markets, discovering the similarities and differences faced by those leading.
Business: Julie Talbott of Premiere Networks, Christine Hoffman of the Daily Wire, and Steve Passwaiter of Silver Oak Political had a very compelling conversation with RAB CEO Mike Hulvey. Some of the information shared by Passwaiter on political spending didn’t make folks feel warm and fuzzy, but similar to Borrell’s session, they know where the money is moving. Knowing that is important if we hope to improve our situation.
Executives: Curtis LeGeyt was candid, engaging, and showed why the industry is in good hands with him leading the NAB. We tackled the AM For Every Vehicle Act, big tech’s monopoly, the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, the decrease of local news, and the role of broadcasters in the upcoming election. He explained why the AM Radio bill hasn’t passed yet, but my bigger takeaway was that he sees a massive problem with big tech. “This is the area where Washington needs to step up, period. We need modernization of FCC limits on ownership limits, period. Make no mistake, there are fundamentals here that no local media is going to be able to compete with Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.” I highly recommend watching the session once on-demand videos are ready.
Another important executive discussion at the show featured Dan Mason and Alfred Liggins. Alfred’s closing story of trying to gain advertising from Pepsi and landing a lunch meeting with their key decision maker that saw him order a coke produced a ton of laughter in the room, but the conversation about AM Radio’s value, and the challenges associated with Nielsen’s PPM measurement were the most important. Hearing two prominent industry leaders examine the future of the industry was healthy for the room.
Recognition: Thanks to Premiere Networks we were able to create our inaugural awards ceremony to honor industry game changers. Joel Oxley of WTOP received the Gold Standard in Business Award, Ken Charles took home the Gold Standard in Programming Award, and David Kantor was the recipient of the Gold Standard in Leadership Award. All three gave fantastic speeches, and appreciated the recognition of their work. David’s advice on forming a now the psychological contract with your people that will get your team to follow you anywhere was excellent. I love seeing great people and work recognized, and am thrilled that Premiere Networks believes in it too.
Closing: In my opening and closing monologues, I talked about news/talk radio leaving dollars on the table due to a lack of video strategy. Digital video ad spending is growing higher than everything else. Social media platforms prioritize video content over the rest. Yet most news/talk stations miss the mark on YouTube, Rumble, and social media. Uploading a daily video isn’t a strategy. Facial recognition in your photos, using the right keywords in your titles, creating a consistent look and style in your images, all of these things matter. You need over 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in a year to be eligible for monetization. Based on what I’m seeing, most aren’t capitalizing in this department.
The other big issue that radio folks need to understand is that future revenue growth is NOT going to come from radio. It’s going to come from the internet. You can do what you’re doing today as good tomorrow or even do it 10% better. That assures you of staying even or gaining 1-2%. If you don’t think and operate like a multimedia brand you will remain flat to down, and exist rather than thrive. The New York Times is not a newspaper anymore. It is dominant at video, podcasting, social media, newsletters, and print journalism. The Times understands that growth must come from dominating more than one space. Radio needs to do this too and soon.
We have a few things to adjust on our end next year. We had more people on day 1 than day 2 despite a strong speaker lineup on the second day. Do we adjust Day 2 to a half day? Create a farewell breakfast and one-hour awards show? Stay the course? That’s something we’ll discuss and debate, and figure out in the months ahead.
Less students were also in the room due to the event taking place after the first week of school. With our sports conference taking place in May 2025, we’ll have to determine if September, October or November makes the most sense for the 2025 BNM Summit. An election won’t be in the way next year.
There are news media groups and individuals who still have not experienced this show. I’m disappointed by that but remain optimistic it will get better. The 2024 Summit was stronger than the 2023 Summit so we’re making progress. But there’s no excuse to not be here if you work in news media and care about growing your business. A few folks mentioned the cost of tickets. For 8 months they were priced between $199 to $299 for the two-day event. Other industry shows charge more. Benjamin Franklin once said ‘an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.’ I believe that. More talent, market managers, and programmers would learn that too by joining us.
The next step is editing all of the video of the sessions, and making them available on-demand. I’m hoping to get it all done this week. Look for videos of our backstage conversations in the Core Image Studio Green Room, and a bunch of short clips to hit social media, and YouTube as well, thanks to our friends at Fox News Audio. I appreciate everyone who made the trip to DC. I hope you felt the two days were beneficial. I’m eager to hear you use the information to improve your brand, staff, and self.
Until next year!
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
